Chapter 439: with translation of chapter title

Bangeng had no idea that the two people he was muttering about, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, were facing a huge crisis over whether the Jia Family could continue to reside in the Siheyuan.

The Jia Family's house might not be kept.

Bangeng even if he returned to the city.

Where would he live?

The harsh reality left the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law with heads as big as buckets, they stared at each other, you looking at me, me looking at you, their eyes full of desolation.

They also wanted to be like those people, go to the Jiēdào to pay money, turn the house they now live in into their own, so they wouldn't have to suffer the resentment of being arbitrarily evicted.

The key is lack of money.

After painstakingly saving a bit, but because Bangeng slept with a widow, they gave it all away at once, and also lost the Jia Family's Xiao Dang.

For the present plan.

The Jia Family widow was left only with worry.

Just as the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law were racking their brains for a solution.

There were neighbors in the courtyard, who knows if they were there to vent anger at the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law, or to put eye drops on them, wandering back and forth in front of the Jia Family.

One moment they'd look at the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law.

The next moment they'd look at the Jia Family's house.

Even more unacceptable to the Jia Family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law was the fact that the neighbors occasionally uttered a sound that made them feel nauseous.

Jia Zhangshi stormed out of the Jia Family, ready to have a big argument with the neighbors, not showing her fierce side, the Jia Family's house might end up bearing another family's name.

Her plump body thrust toward the doorway, hands on hips, she burst out at those neighbors.

"What are you looking at? What's there to see? Just two widows, right? What exactly do you want to do? Could it be that you're plotting against our Jia Family's two widows?"

Thanks to her studies over the past few years, Jia Zhangshi's cultural knowledge has markedly improved; at the very least she can now utter the idiom "plotting against".

But that idiom.

Applied to the two widows of the Jia Family.

It really isn't very appropriate.

As for Jia Zhangshi, she's a shameless old hag, a coffin‑liner close to death.

As for Qin Huairu, ever since Yi Zhonghai's mishap, the Jia Family lost its support, so Qin Huairu had to fend for herself; but then a scandal caused by Guo Da Piezi's wife cut off her means of self‑support, forcing her to earn a living with her own hands. Years of labor, plus psychological pressure, have left indelible marks on her—her face is wrinkled like a walnut, lacking the former charm of the Yagangchang belle, even more sallow than a yellow‑faced woman.

The two aged, faded widows actually suspected that the Siheyuan neighbors would plot against them.

This is practically the biggest joke under heaven.

The key is that the neighbors aren't blind.

And there are still so many neighbors around.

Even if they were plotting, they wouldn't pick this moment.

The front courtyard's Zhou Lao Shi spoke up.

He has a grudge against the Jia Family.

In previous years, Qin Huairu relied on her title as head of the so‑called Yagangchang "Know Mistake, Correct" team to make things difficult for Zhou Lao Shi for a while. Upon learning that paying money could turn the house into private property, Zhou Lao Shi's heart was moved. Just now, when he inquired at the Jiēdào whether, if a neighbor refused to pay for a house, someone else could buy it with money, that person was Zhou Lao Shi himself.

The matter of Bangeng.

He threw away over a thousand yuan back and forth.

Assuming the Jia Family had no money, he deliberately came to put eye drops on them.

It wasn't solely to anger them.

Zhou Lao Shi's son also needed a house to marry; this would let him vent his resentment, evict the Jia Family from the Siheyuan, and give his son a wedding home.

A three‑in‑one gain.

Naturally it deserves attention.

But Zhou Lao Shi didn't expect that several neighbors sharing his mindset would coincidentally gather at the Jia Family's gate.

Thus the present situation arose.

If it were the past.

Zhou Lao Shi, who couldn't afford to provoke Qin Huairu, would very likely back down.

Nowadays.

Who still bothers with Qin Huairu?

A tit‑for‑tat spat broke out.

"Jia Laozi, you're blind, but we aren't; with your conduct, who could plot against you? As for your daughter‑in‑law, you merely treat Qin Huairu as a treasure."

"If you're not plotting against our Jia Family widows, why are you loitering around our gate? According to me, the old woman, you're aiming at me and my daughter‑in‑law Qin Huairu."

"Jia Zhangshi, calm down—who has designs on you? We're interested in your family's house." Zhou Lao Shi, bringing up the sore point, steered the talk to the house: "As the Jiēdào has announced, if you pay a certain sum in one go, the house becomes your private property."

"What does your buying a house have to do with us Jia Family? Why are you circling our Jia Family?"

Jia Zhangshi gives off an aura of fierce sternness.

On the surface she looks fierce.

But inside she's terrified.

She worries that something unexpected will happen.

"Jia Zhangshi, what are you pretending? You also went to the Jiēdào—didn't you hear what they said? This house isn't yours; it belongs to the Jiēdào. If you Jia Family don't want to pay this rent, while we folks want to help the Jiēdào solve its trouble, the house can be transferred to our names. We're just previewing it—what's wrong with that?"

Other several neighbors.

They all chimed in.

"What Lao Shi said is right—we're just helping the Jiēdào."

"You Jia Family want to live in the Jiēdào's house for free—we neighbors won't allow that."

"Who says we don't pay rent?"

Jia Zhangshi, does your family have money? This really requires pulling out several hundred at once—I'm not looking down on your Jia family, but without Yi Zhonghai, your Jia family is worth nothing.

Whether our Jia family has money or not is none of your business—stop meddling!

The Jia family has money—Bangeng in Dongbei married a widow with three kids, spending a thousand; this few hundred for buying a house is trivial for the Jia family.

Looks like we won't be able to buy the Jia family's house.

Jia Zhangshi, I, Lao Shi Zhou, am not bullying your Jia family widow either—I've inquired: from now until sixty days from now, if you can't come up with this money, the street office will reclaim the house, and they won't let your Jia family live there for free.

A group of people.

Patted their buttocks and left.

Left behind Jia Zhangshi staring at each other, and Qin Huairu hiding inside, listening to the commotion.

They can even brag about cowhide.

But can put it into practice.

However, it's somewhat difficult.

The Jia family's relationships in the siheyuan simply can't be described with a good word—it's so bad that nobody associates with them.

The idea of borrowing money was extinguished.

Others also want to buy a house.

On what grounds should they lend money to you, Jia Zhangshi?

Even if they had money, they wouldn't lend; people plainly tell you, Jia Zhangshi, I've set my sights on your family's house—go borrow money, can you actually borrow any?

In a situation of extreme worry.

Jia Zhangshi actually came up with the idea of borrowing money from Shazhu.